Lorist and Josk were stationed on a small hill, looking at Beiye Town in the distance.
The city gate of Beiye Town was wide open, and an endless stream of vehicles poured out of the city gate, and the sound of noise and crying could be heard from afar.
"My lord, I have never seen such an arrogant and brazen garrison team. They even haggle over every detail and bargain with their lord. No wonder you say that the garrison team in the family territory is a strange thing. It's just that my lord doesn't understand why you They will tolerate their existence, they have long been declared rebellious and punished by the lords in other territories," Josk said.
Lorist smiled: "You see, it's been two hundred years, the ancestors of our Norton family never dreamed that their kindness to the people would be taken advantage of so much, and left such a big loophole for their descendants. It's an unmanageable mess. But our trip this morning was not in vain. Look, didn't they send people out? As for the crusade, we have to endure it for a while, waiting for the troops led by Shredder and Bodfinger to go north Once the convoy arrives, we will have the strength to destroy them."
Early in the morning, Lorist and Josk escorted five carriages filled with leather armored spears and imperial silver coins to Beiye Town. It’s just that Master Donbassen was missing from the four major families who came to greet him. According to Patriarch Mo Lin’s explanation, Master Donbassen occasionally felt cold in the past two days and is now lingering on the sick bed, so I’m sorry that he can only be absent.
However, when Patriarch Molin handed over the list of members of the newly formed 400-member garrison, Lorist realized that his plan to kill three men with two peaches had failed. The defenders on this list are basically composed of members of the Morin family, the Hassan family, and the Chubim family. There is no one from the Donbassen family. The garrison withdrew.
Lorist pretended to be curious and asked why the original captain Dombason withdrew from the defense team? Patriarch Molin's answer was that Master Donbassen decided to move the entire Donbassen family there after the new town that Lorist planned to build was completed, and Captain Donbassen would then serve as the captain of the new town's defense.
Lorist strongly praised the good quality of the Donbassen family for their patience and humility. After talking nonsense, he handed over the leather armor and spear he had brought to Patriarch Molin, and explained that these were equipment for the newly formed garrison team. Pointing to the box full of imperial silver coins, he said that the salary arrears to the garrison that several patriarchs protested last time had already been brought, a lot of money. It's just that the salary of the defense team will be changed to be paid every three months. Because I am very busy, it is not worthwhile to go to Beiye Town for that little money, so I ask for your understanding.
Then Lorist asked the steward Kedan at the side if he had finished counting the population? Manager Kedan reported that the registration of the survivors of the former family soldiers and those landless residents had been completed. There were more than 1,400 people in total, and these people were ready to leave at any time. It's just that because of the adjustment and expansion of the defense team this time, those who were dismissed from the defense team were very emotional, and many of them did not cooperate with the population statistics. Steward Kedan estimated that there were more than 2,000 people in this group.
At this moment, Patriarch Mo Lin came up with a suggestion. He said that because some defensive players were not suitable for continuing to serve as defensive players due to various reasons due to this expansion, it was wrong for them to have emotions, but please be considerate of the family. . If the family decides to build a new town, they can form a new city defense team to recruit them, and they will definitely cooperate with the family to complete the population census.
Lorist sneered, they have a really good idea, let the family build a new town, and then recruit them to form a new city defense team, enjoy preferential treatment like the Beiye town defense team, don't need to spend a single effort to continue to be the uncle, it's a bad idea .
Lorist deliberately shook his head and smiled bitterly. He said to the three family heads that the family is currently facing a critical juncture. You all know that our Norton family is in a state of war with Viscount Kenmes. Checkpoint the city wall and keep Viscount Kenmes out of the family territory. So now the family is in great need of labor, and the survivors and landless residents of the former family soldiers who have been registered will be sent to the Morgan Hills as the main labor for the construction of the checkpoint city wall. The construction of the new town can only rely on the remaining manpower in Beiye Town except for the members of the garrison and their relatives.
Lorist said that the family decided to expand the defense team in Beiye Town this time, not to let them stay in Beiye Town as a tortoise, but because there are several aspects that require the defense team to work. Of course, the heads of the family, please rest assured that the family will not drag the defense team into the battlefield against Viscount Kenmes, because the defense team is not capable, and the family does not trust the defense team's combat power.
Lorist's sarcasm made the three Patriarchs blush on the spot, but Patriarch Mo Lin was so cunning and thick-skinned that he pretended not to hear, and instead asked Lorist where he planned to use the defense team
Lorist pointed to the territory map on the table and said that the mercenary group hired by the family had already set up camp in Poplar Beach where a new town was being built. As long as Beiye City mobilizes excess manpower and sends out a garrison team of 200 people, a new army camp can be set up at the pass where the two mountains meet, more than a hundred miles away from Poplar Beach. Mountain barbarians. As for the Beiye Town Defense Team, there are only two tasks left. One is to deliver a batch of supplies to Xinjunzhai to the mercenary regiment every ten days, and the other is to take turns stationing at Huyangtan to supervise the construction of the new town.
Of course, the family will not let the garrison team in Beiye Town work in vain. The salary of the garrison team members stationed at Poplar Beach every time it is their turn is ten imperial silver coins per month, which is almost ten times higher. In addition, the reward for the mercenary regiment is also valid for the garrison, that is, a bounty of one imperial old man's head gold coin for a living mountain barbarian, and a bounty of fifty imperial silver coins for a dead man.
The three Patriarchs discussed in whispers for a long time, but they still didn't give Lorist an answer. In the end, Lorist became impatient. He said that he could give the three heads of the family a month to think carefully. If they are unwilling to participate in the construction of the new town, the family will not be reluctant. It's just that after the completion of the new town, there will be nothing to do with Beiye Town. , the family doesn't care and has no intention of paying attention to the thoughts and attitudes of the residents of Beiye Town.
In the end, Lorist asked to requisition a batch of carriages in Beiye Town to send the registered combs of former family soldiers and lost land to the manor castle. As a result, Lorist did not expect that this simple request would be met with three Homeowners' resistance. Now Lorist was furious. He asked the three patriarchs if Beiye Town was going to raise the flag of rebellion. The crusade destroyed Beiye Town to quell the civil strife.
Lorist's tough attitude startled the three Patriarchs, and hurriedly stepped forward to beg for forgiveness, explaining the reason for the boycott in a hesitant manner. It turned out that they were worried that these carriages conscripted to transport people would be confiscated by the family without compensation after they arrived at the manor castle, and they would suffer a lot of losses and so on.
Lorist didn't expect this to be the reason, and it really made people laugh and cry. He also didn't expect that the three major families in Beiye Town would rather offend himself, the lord, for the sake of dozens of carriages. He hated these garrison families in Beiye Town more and more.
Well then, Lorist said, I won’t recruit anymore, I’ll hire your carriage to transport those personnel to the head office, it’s an hour’s journey, as long as the people are sent to the open space in front of the manor castle, I’ll pay one imperial silver coin for a carriage transportation costs. In addition, in the name of the Norton family, I promise not to expropriate these carriages of yours.
Hearing what Lorist said, the three heads of the family started arguing again, but this time they were arguing about how many carriages their family wanted, for fear of losing this opportunity to make money. After arguing for a long time, they finally agreed on the share of how many carriages each family would send, and then ordered people to go down to prepare the carriages and start transporting the more than 1,400 people.
"My lord, I still can't figure it out. I think our current strength is enough to wipe out the defense team in Beiye Town. You don't need to appease them like this. The more you tolerate them, the less they will take you seriously." Josk looked at Kitano Town and said.
Lorist nodded: "You're right, Joe, if Viscount Kenmes didn't add trouble to us, and there wasn't a castle construction site in the Morgan Hills, then I might lead you back to the family's manor and castle. Directly attack Beiye Town. But not now, because after we concentrate our forces to deal with Beiye Town, the damage will be heavy. Beiye Town is not the garrison of the nobles of other territories. There is only a quota of 200 people, but if we attack, Beiye Town can have no less than 2,000 people in battle, and because of the relationship of the garrison family, they will not easily surrender and will only fight us. In that case, even if we After defeating the garrison, the casualties must be great, and we will not have the strength to build castles and defenses in the Morgen Hills."
"There is only one town, Beiye Town, in our family's territory. Before, the family could only compromise with them. I decided to expand the garrison of Beiye Town in order to divert the population of Beiye Town and stimulate conflicts among them. The purpose of building a new town in Beiye Town is to allow the big families in Beiye Town to rule out their differences and monopolize Beiye Town. In this way, the large population of Beiye Town can be divided into two parts by itself, and the number of enemies we have to deal with will be reduced by half. .”
"I gave them leather armor and spears, and paid the wages owed. Firstly, to appease them, and secondly, to make them think that I am not going to deal with them, so that they will not make trouble for us in the territory. What we need now is Time, it takes time to build the castle site, it takes time to deal with the Viscount Kenmes, it takes time to train the soldiers of the family to form a new guard force, and it takes time to wait for the Shredder Knights and their northbound convoy to arrive. Therefore, what is needed in the current family territory is stability .”
"My lord, you don't really decide to build a new town in Poplar Beach, do you?" Josk asked.
"Why not?" Lorist smiled. "My father and elder brother have long planned to build a new town in the family territory, so that the family can get rid of the burden of Beiye Town and lay the foundation for solving Beiye Town. It's just that They had an accident and failed to complete the plan, and the address they chose to build a new town was Poplar Beach. I looked at the map of the family territory and found that Poplar Beach is indeed the most suitable place to build a new town. Building a new town there is quite Yu doubled the territory actually controlled by the family, the only threat is to consider whether it will be invaded by the mountain barbarians, and I hired those mercenaries who surrendered to set up a new army camp at the mountain pass to eliminate this threat."
"However, this new town is just an idea at present, or it can be said to be an excuse to divert the population of Beiye Town to intensify the conflict. Our most important thing at present is to build the castle site on the Morgan Hill, even if the castle site over there is completed. , the next thing to be built is the mountain city over there, and it will be implemented in accordance with the development plan of the Morgan Hills formulated by the Kenmes family. After the construction of the castle site is completed, I plan to use it as the main city, and then build a new mountain city To defeat the Kenmes family, to find a new channel for foreign exchanges and trade, and to meet the arrival of the northbound convoy will become the focus and task in the future."
"As for the new town here in Poplar Beach, if Beiye Town is willing to contribute, then we can do the preparatory work first, such as collecting stones, wood, and various equipment materials for refining green clay. It cannot be completed in one or two years. During this period, those manpower diverted from Beiye Town will definitely have conflicts with the guards who supervise them after working. At that time, Beiye Town will be isolated, and when we want to deal with them It’s much easier when it’s time.”
"My lord, you are insidious," Josk said.
"You're too much." Lorist replied.
…